Links list - 2025-05-27
Hello, and welcome to a new issue of Links list! It’s been a while, so there are a lot of links this time! Hope you enjoy the selection.
Pipelining operators Link to heading
An interesting article about the beauty of pipelining, in multiple languages.
Pipelining Might Be My Favorite Programming Language Feature
Free-standing function call syntax considered kind of suboptimal.
Inventing react server components Link to heading
Some very interesting articles from Dan Abramov explaining different ways to invent React Server Components. I loved the different approaches and how clear the articles are.
JSX Over the Wire — Overreacted
Turning your API inside-out.
Impossible Components — Overreacted
Composing across the stack.
Functional HTML — Overreacted
Tags on both sides.
Allocators and Arenas in Rust vs Zig Link to heading
A very interesting article that compares various approaches for allocations in Rust, with a detour to Zig, and explains pretty clearly what an arena is and how to use it.
[ Λ ]: Zig -> Allocators -> Rust Ergonomics
Show of hands, who has run into this problem when writing Rust:
Reservoir sampling Link to heading
A fantastic explanation of the reservoir sampling algorithm, with amazing animations. There are a lot of other great visualizations on Sam’s website; check them out!
Reservoir Sampling
Choosing fairly when you don’t know how many you’re choosing from.
Newtype pattern Link to heading
I’ve blogged about the Primitive Obsession code smell in the past, and sometimes I find new good articles about the topic. Here’s one that compares C++ and Rust!
Matt Godbolt Sold Me on Rust (By Showing Me C++)
Looking at C++ from another angle can create new possibilities using Rust.
CSS view-transition Link to heading
From the Safari blog, a simple two-liner of CSS that will (often) improve a website’s look, using the modern view transition API.
Two Lines of Cross-Document View Transitions Code You Can Use on Every Website Today
Arguably, the most profound thing about the web is the ability to link one page to another.
AI going wild Link to heading
I haven’t really blogged about AI, because while I have opinions on the topic, I don’t really think I have anything interesting to contribute to the discussion. Besides, I don’t know about you, but I feel kinda fed up with the continuous amount of news about it.
But, anyway, here are a few stories of AI going wild that left me pretty depressed.
Chicago Sun-Times Prints AI-Generated Summer Reading List With Books That Don’t Exist
Classic slop: it listed real authors with entirely fake books. There’s an important follow-up from 404 Media in their subsequent story: > Victor Lim, the vice president of marketing and …
The Future of Customer Support Is Lies, I Guess
Update, 2025-05-22: TrueNAS was kind enough to reach out and let me know that their support process does not normally incorporate LLMs. They’re talking about what happened internally, and intend to prevent it from happening again through improved documentation and reviewing the support process as a whole. I’m happy to hear it!